About the Center for a New Economy

The Center for a New Economy (CNE) is an independent, non-partisan think-tank. Founded in 1998, it produces rigorous public policy research and analysis and is one of the most credible and influential voices in Puerto Rico and the United States on the island’s economy. Since 2014, CNE has been recognized as one of the Top Think-Tanks to Watch by the Global Think Tank Report produced by the University of Pennsylvania.

Seeking to mobilize US mainland resources to provide an emergency response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, CNE created the Puerto Rico Recovery Fund. The Fund seeks to provide relief for the people’s most immediate needs—food, water, clothing – while garnering resources for mid and long- term initiatives focused on ensuring a more productive and stable Puerto Rico. The Fund mobilized its first planeload of emergency supplies from the US into the island within a week of Maria’s destructive path. These supplies were distributed to affected non-profits in Puerto Rico within 24-hours of their arrival in the island.

With offices in San Juan and Washington DC, CNE will be a strong and compelling advocate in the US capital for the island’s recovery and reconstruction efforts. A highly credible purveyor of rigorous and independent research and policy thinking, CNE will focus its efforts in the nation’s capital on the need to mobilize a significant amount of federal resources towards a comprehensive recovery and rebuilding program for Puerto Rico.

CNE is particularly well placed to effectively contribute to Puerto Rico’s recovery and guide economic reconstruction efforts in the island. CNE possesses an ambitious portfolio of initiatives focused on helping resolve the Puerto Rico’s debt crisis and reestablish a path towards economic growth. The CNE Growth Commission for Puerto Rico, for example, is developing policy options conducive to jumpstarting the Puerto Rico economy.

CNE was among the first voices to alert - a decade ago - of Puerto Rico’s impending fiscal crisis. It produces continued updates on the fiscal and economic situation of the island and is actively involved in advocating for solutions to the Puerto Rico crisis in policy circles in the US.

CNE’s analysis are sought-out by officials in the US Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the White House, and the US Congress intent on receiving balanced expertise and policy counsel on Puerto Rico and finding bipartisan options to the island’s fiscal predicament. Its reports and analyses are regularly covered by media from the United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia and are cited by numerous academic and policy publications.

In 2006, CNE jointly published with the Brookings Institution in Washington DC, “The Economy of Puerto Rico: Restoring Growth”, an in-depth analysis of the economy of Puerto Rico that offered policy recommendations focused on restoring growth. The American Library Association selected the book as Notable Book that same year.